Chicagoan David Wallerstein, who gave the world large fries at McDonald's, knew how to size up the buying public

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to limit the size of sodas also takes consumer behavior into account

June 13, 2012|Phil Rosenthal

Chicago's David Wallerstein urged McDonalds to give customers products, such as French fries, in the sizes they wanted them. (Justin Sullivan/Getty)

He was one of those old men who told stories that always seemed to drop him in the middle of some monumental occurrence. A pal of my grandfather, he would spin these fantastic tales about how he told Walt Disney this, came up with that, introduced something, is the reason thatMcDonald's … well, you get it.

Think Grampa Simpson. All you could do was nod and smile.

It was only after Chicago's David Wallerstein died that I came to realize he wasn't making it all up. And although he's been gone almost 20 years, in light of recent news, I've been thinking about him a lot. Whatever I knew of him, he certainly knew all of us.

The obituaries all noted that, over the course of Wallerstein's nearly 40-year-career at the Balaban and Katz theater chain, his innovations included the introduction of butter on popcorn and ice in soft drinks at concession stands. One doesn't think of someone introducing those, but he did. Honest. And that's not his most enduring legacy.

Disney called Wallerstein a friend and "a magnificent showman" who "could smell a hit or a flop through a six-foot wall," such was his gut instinct.

Wallerstein also was on the board of directors of McDonald's, and that's how he came to persuade fast-food king Ray Kroc to add large fries to the menu.

Because he knew we wanted it.

"From his days in operating movie theaters, he brought us a finely honed sense of customer responsiveness," former McDonald's Chairman Fred Turner said at the time of Wallerstein's death, reflecting on his "encouragement to us to offer McDonald's products in sizes to match customer preferences."

This idea of sizes to match customer preferences weighs heavy these days. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is out to curb our enthusiasm, seeking to limit sales of sugary drinks such as soda in his city by proposing $200 fines for vendors who dare serve it in containers larger than 16 ounces.

The goal is to fight the nation's obesity epidemic. The result so far has been a spirited discussion. Well-intentioned though the proposal may be, at best it's paternalistic and at worst suggests a bullying Big Brother.

Thomas Farley, New York City's health commissioner, defended the idea as something short of prohibition: "It's not saying 'no' to people. It's saying, 'Are you sure? Do you really want that?'"

Just proposing the limits should do that. Passing them threatens to send a different message.

"I remember when cigarette companies started marketing to women, and groups got ticked off," said Kit Yarrow, chairwoman of the psychology department at Golden Gate University, where she is a jointly appointed professor of psychology and marketing. "There are documents that say, 'We need to protect this vulnerable group.' And I'm like: Who's vulnerable? Half the population is too dumb to know that cigarettes are going to hurt them?' That's how it felt to me as a woman."

On the other hand, Yarrow conceded: "There is a lot of psych research that shows the more we have the more we consume, the Costco effect. People are less judicious about what they have if they have a lot of it, so if they have a lot of soda, they will drink it."

Our thirst for absurdly sized beverages stems from a basic urge, though not necessarily the obvious one.

"So much depends on how you frame the choice and what the choices are. You manufacture the consumer's preferences," said William Poundstone, author of "Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It)."

"When you get a large, you feel like you're getting a better deal. And on a per-ounce basis, it is a better deal. You don't think, 'I need this 32-ounce drink.' You think, 'Boy, I'm getting a better deal.'"

Poundstone said research shows that when there is no strong preference, the availability of three sizes tends to result in selection of the mid-size one.

"You'll pick the middle choice no matter what it is in absolute terms," Poundstone said. "Obviously, they try to sell people up to get people to buy more drink than they normally would. So the sizes of soft drinks have been gradually getting bigger and bigger, and now we've got these gargantuan drinks that people consider normal. You forget there was a time when you would getCoca-Colain six-ounce bottles."

For the seller, however, it's easy money. "Especially with things like soda and popcorn, once you get the cost of the cup, the service and overhead, the cost of what's in the cup is practically nothing," Yarrow said.

As New Yorkers' worst impulses go, however, soft drinks seem a soft target. Imagine what would happen if the city followed the lead of that Massachusetts town that's going to levy fines on public profanity. Or put limits on caffeine consumption? Or, heaven forbid, if Bloomberg called for the salaries and bonuses of those who toil on Wall Street to be capped.

Kroc initially resisted Wallerstein's suggestion that McDonald's add large fries to its menu, arguing that those who wanted more could order two regular portions. Wallerstein knew from his popcorn days that ordering two containers made people feel piggish and less likely to buy.

"So we kicked it around and he finally talked us into testing the larger size in a store near his home in Chicago," Kroc recalled in his 1977 book, "Grinding It Out."

"Every time the manager or a crew person would look up, there would be Dave peering in to see how the large-size fries were selling. He needn't have worried. The large order took off like a rocket."

What Wallerstein knew is we all have appetites. You can't give people more of what they don't want or enough of what they do.